Water-resistant paper-disk stopper for milk bottles and the like



Dec. 17, 1929. c. ELLIS 1,739,582

WATER RESISTANT PAPER DISK STOPPER FOR MILK BOTTLES AND THE LIKE Original Filed May 7, 1926 Patented Dec. 17,1929

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CABTLETON ELLIS, or ivronrcnnrn, NEW annsnraassre von r ELLIS-FOSTER COMPANY, A CORPORATION on NEW JERSEY WATER-RESISTANT PAPER-DISK STOPYER FOR MILK BOTTLES AND flfiE LIKE Application filed May 7, 1926, Serial No. 107,461. Renewed November 15, 1928.

the woodpulp orpaper pulp at some stage in its manufacture prior to being formed into a sheet, an appropriate proportion of a wax emulsion, particularly one made from paraffin wax and subsequently sheeting the so treated pulp, whereby a water resistant product is obtained. This is cut into disks of the size appropriate to fit into milk bottles and similar containers. Thus, a package or container' results comprising a bottle and a disk stopper or closure,'held in place .by a frictional contact with the walls of said bottle.

I I prefer to use such a quantity of wax in thepaper pulp'thata disk is obtained which will not permit milk or other liquids to penetrate when such liquids are placed in the bottle and the disk inserted in the mouth of the bottle, even though such contact of liquid may be over a period of several days.

The exact degree of waterproofing or water resistance, however, depends on service conditions, and in some cases, a waterproofing effect of a comparatively slight degree may be all that is required, while, in other cases, a much more substantial waterproofing effect is needed.

Ordinarily ,in producing a disk of a char- J acter sufficiently water resistant for milk hot- 40 tles, the paper may carry four to five per cent of p'arafiin wax. In the present method of 1 waterproofing it is customary to apply a coating of wax to each side of the disk and the amount of wax thus incorporated in the paper is considerably higher than that required in the present invention. Thus, a saving of paraflin, or other wax, results.

Futhermorefin waterproofing paper disks in accordance with present methods the paper from which the disk is to be cut is usually water resistant printed with the manufacturers name or trademark and then the paper is. punched or cut 1nto disk form, Or the punching may be done first and the printing afterwards, subsequently the disks are waxed by contacting with molten paraflin, which treatment coats not only the surfaces of the paper disk with wax, but also the edges of said disk coming in contact with the wax.

.Since the firmness'with which the disk is held in place in the bottle mouth depends, in part at least, upon the frictional contact of the rim or periphery of the disk, lubrication of the edges of the disk with paraffin wax is undesirable. This is especially true when the cheaper grades of pa'raflin wax are used,

which are rather soft, and which in the case,

for example, of scale wax, may contain some lubricating oils, and such disks when coated in the manner aforesaid, are open to the possible objection of not being capable of being firmly seated in the bottle mouth.

So long as the bottle remains chilled this may not cause trouble, but if the container is allowed to reach room temperature, or to stand in the sun for any length of time, the stopper may loosen, or at least, cease to be adequately and firmly seated.

According to the present invention the dissemination of wax throughout the mass of paper pulp tends to secure an adequate waterproofing eifect with a minimum amount of Wax and at the same time avoids that surface coating of wax along the periphery of the disk, causing local lubrication; such as would result from dipping the disk in 'a paraflin bath. A greater proportion of the fibres in the surface of the periphery are free to engage in .a frictional contact with the walls of the bottle mouth and a firm stoppering-elfect results.

Furthermore, instead of using the harder and more expensive grades of paraffin wax, it is possible to use in the present'invention Various cheaper grades including scale wax, or wax which has been softened with various oils. Thus, in some instances I prefer to employ an emulsion or dispersion of wax and a good grade of petroleum oil, particularly one which is practically tasteless and odorless,}such as the various so-call-ed medici. nal o i1s,-0f which products such as Nujol.

. or Marcol are typical.

I as soap, alkali, starch, bentonite, and the like.

Thus, five or' ten'per cent of stearicor oleic acid may be melted with the paraflin and 1 this coniposition emulsified with a hot dilute aqueous solution of caustic soda or ammonia. The ammonia composition is preferable in some cases as free ammonia may be removed very readily. A-wax disperson maybe made,

suitable for the purpose, by agitating or grinding paraflin wax with water and one of the aforesaid emulsifying or dispersing agents, or any other suitable dispersing agent. Preferably I employ the colloid mill to'make such dispersion and in this case I preferably employ only a very small amount of "emulsifying or dispersing agent-I Thus,

- less'thanone per cent of potassium or sodium oleate may be employed to make a fine dispersion of paraffin wax in water,

. the dispersion containing about fifty per v cent'of the wax, and yet being quite liquid.

The use of such milled wax, as the wax dispersion made in the colloid mill, is termed, is advantageous in that the wax may be employed in the'form of a concentrated dispersion and .yet will become disseminated through a large amount of wet paper pulp. L Preferably the paraffin emulsion is added to the beater engine at the time the paper stock; 18 charged there into and after thorough mix ing inthe usual manner in the engine a quantity of rosin size or any other desired sizing agent may be added, followed by the introduction of alum or other setting agent before the charge withdrawn.

' The addition of rosin size or similar sizing agent, however, 'is not necessary in many cases.

By incorporating with the paper stock,

whilein the beater engine, just sufficient wax to} create the requisite waterproofing effect and the addition of a setting agent, the wax precipitates throughout the particles of the pulp-mass. Thus, two or three per cent by weight of wax, based on the paper stock, may

be introduced in this manner to secure Water resistance.

The paper stocrmay be ordinary sulphite pulp or pulp obtained by other processes of treating wood, or it may be prepared from ground wood or mixtures of ground wood with sulphite pulp, or other'pulp. The em- In some cases oxidized parafiin may be employed to produce a dispersion. This emulsifies or disperses better than the unoxidized wax. The entire wax content of this dispersion, or a part thereof, may be made from oxidized paraflin. The latter may be produced, for example, by blowing air through parafw fin'wtgr for several hours at a temperature of 160 ployment of other fibres adapted to be sheeted to make paper is not precluded.

In the preferred form of the invention I i 'may have present in the paper pulp a substantial proportion of hydrocellulose to serve V or assist as afixative for the wax. The hydrocellulose maybe added to the pulp or formed in it in any suitable manner.

The invention may be illustrated by the following:

A mixture of equal parts by weight of sulphite pulp and ground wood are agitated in water in the beater engine with a dispersion of paraffin Wax sufficient to introduce about four per cent of wax into the finished paper. The dispersion is made by passing through a. colloid mill equal parts by volume of molten wax and a one per cent solution of sodium or potassium oleate. Agitation in the "beater engine is continued until hydrocellulose is formed to a considerable extent." A

After thorough admixture, frosin size is added, sufficient to introduce ,one or two per cent of rosin-or resinate and suificient alum is then added to react withthe resinate and soap.

The pulp so treated is formed into a sheet, usually of single ply construction and for the milk bottle disk or closure of the present invention should have a thickness preferably between thirty and forty points, although thinner or thicker sheets therefor are not preeluded.

The sheetiscalendered, preferably hot, and the particles'of wax are thus further disseminated through the fibrous mass (and into the fibres thereof) composing the sheet. In this way an enhanced degree of water resistance is obtained. The paper stock is then printed in sheet form and finally cut or punched into disks of a size closely fitting into the mouth of the glass container which is to be stoppered. In other cases the sheet is cut into disk form and the disks subsequeritly printed, v Of course, the printing may be omitted when no emblem or advertisingmatter is required. I

The procedure. of the foregoing illustration may be varied in difierent ways, as for example, a cheaper-paper stock may be made by utilizing three parts by weight of ground wood to onepa'rt of sulphite or sulphate pulp. The paraflin .wax may receive an addition of hydrocarbon oil. Thus ten to twenty per cent of oil may be added to the 'wax and a dispersion made therefrom, which, in some cases,

may permit of better results in printing the waterproofed paper.

Other waxes such as carnauba employed as a dispersion may be incorporated in the paper pulp in lieu of paraflin wax, yielding a paper of greater stiffness and one which when sheeted can be pressed or molded into various shapes and on cooling maintain such shape, even though exposed to the suns rays. Paraffin wax, on the other hand, employed in the same manner yields a paper which will not hold its shape effectually under these conditions.

The container of the present invention is illustrated diagrammatically in the appended drawing, in which Fig. 1- shows partly in elevation and partly'in section, a bottle of the milk bottle type. Fig. 2 is a cross section as described above.

of a paper closure disk,

Like

Fig. 3 shows the disk in perspective.

. reference characters denote like parts in the This disk contains a disseminated wax prodrawings.

In the drawing A is a bottle, in the mouth of which is situated the disk closure B seated in the shoulder or recess of the bottle mouth.

I duced in the manner aforesaid and the rim or periphery ofthe disk engages in firm contact with the side walls of said recess.

In Fig. 2, B is the closure disk of fibrofis structure, as indicated by C and having the particles of wax disseminated through the mass as indicated by D. This drawing is merely diagrammatic as the proportion of wax and the degree and temperature of calendering will make a considerable diflerence in the appearance of the product. The drawing, therefore, can be considered only as illustrative and not in any sense serving as a restriction with respect to the structure thus diagrammatically depicted.

As has been indicated in the foregoing, the present method of dipping paper disks into wax to secure a coating of the wax on the surfaces and on the periphery does not secure uniform distribution of said wax. In the present invention it is possible to disseminate the wax uniformly throughout the paper stock. This does not necessarily mean that the wax extends continuously through the mass, but that it is deposited on or in the fibres in such a manner that when the pulp is made into sheet form the waxy particles will be "distributed therethrough in a substantially uniform manner, that is, suficiently closely and regularly to make a watermesistant material. The wax introduced into the paper pulp by meansof an emulsion or dispersion is a deposited wax rather than one which has been applied by dipping and the term deposited as used herein, therefore, applies to the water resistant product containing wax which has been thrown down or deposited from a suspension, dis ersion, emulsion and the llke.

By. the term deposseminated and deposited paraflin wax.

ited as used herein, reference is made to wax which has been thrown down or deposited from a suspension, dispersion, emulsion and the like. This term is used to distinguish over the processes wherein the wax is applied by mere dipping of an article into molten wax or analogous method.

It is possible to use such a large proportion of wax with respect to the paper stock that on hot calendering the wax will ooze out to some extent, so that a waxy surface and also, in some cases, a waxy periphery may result. In the present invention, however, so far as is.concerned' the specific product, namely; a water resistant paper disk adapted for stoppering containers of the milk bottle type, I prefer to use a lesser proportion of wax, in fact, the minimum amount of wax which will secure water resistance, in order thereby to obtain a greater frictional seating effect due to the greater grip on the mouth walls of the bottle by virtue of some of the periphery fibers, or parts thereof, being sufliciently free from waxy and greasy material to accomplish this objective.

Finally I wish to call attention to the fact that'in the preferred form of invention the waxes, .oils and the like employed to obtain water resistance should be as pure as possible, or, in any event, preferably sterilized 'or treated and purified in such manner as to be of sanitary quality and free from odors .or-other contaminating influence on. a product so' sensitive as milk. Therefore, in preparing the preferred form ofthe invention such substances as rubber, tars, asphalts and the like which might contaminate milk are excluded. i What I claim is v v 1. A bottle .closure disk composed of cellulose fibre and milled paraflin'wax dispersed 2. A. container comprising a bottle having arecessed mouth adapted to receive a paper closure disk, and carrying in said recess a closure disk composed of paper of a thickness between thirty and forty points and con taining disseminated wax serving as a waterproofing agent.

3. A water resistant paper disk stopper for bottles containing ground wood and sulphite pulp fibre carrying disseminated and depos I ited parafiin wax.

4. A water, resistant single sheet paper disk suitable for stoppering milk bottles, said disk being composed substantially of ground wood and sulphite pulp carrying uniformly dis- 5. A water resistant single sheet paper disk adapted for use as a stopper for milk bottles, said 'disk carrying uniformly distributed deposited wax; the edges'of said disk.

'being adaptedto secure fibrous engagement with the mouth walls o f such milk bottles,

I whereby a frictional seating eflect is obtained.

' 6,. In single sheet paper disks suitable forclosing milk bottles,"the employment of a waterproofing composition comprising paraffin,wax and a medicinal mineral oil.

7. A water resistant single sheet paper disk adapted for closing a container of the milk bottle type, said disk containing a substantial pro ortion 'of hydrocellulose and carrying uni ormly disseminated and deposited waxof a character adapted for contact with milk;

whereby a sanitary closure-is obtained.

8. A paper disk water-proofed with oxi Q dized paraflin. Y

9. A closure for containers said closure being ma'dl from paper carrying oxidized paraffin.

10. A container disk closure comprising paper carrying paraflin wax introduced into the paper'from an emulsified condition.

11. A container closure made of paperhaving incorporated thereinto a parafiin wax and 1 K a setting agent for said wax.

being made from paper pulp incorporated 12. A closure for containers, said closure 13. A container closure compr sing paper board carrying paraflin wax introduced into the stock from which the'board was made in an emulsified condition.

14. A closure for containers, said closure being made from stock containing ground wood pulp incorporated with emulsified wax. 15. A' water resistant paper disk stopper for bottles made from stock containing figound wood pulp carrying emulsified parafwax. i

CARLETON ELLIS. 

